Overwatch BEAT Invitational Season 2 Preview

6 July 2017 12:59

The Overwatch BEAT Invitational Season 2 begins tomorrow (Friday 7th July), with eight teams fighting it out for a share of a reported $6,000 prize pool. The three-day event sees best-of-five double eliminations for the round robin and play-offs, leading to a best-of-seven grand final to determine the overall winner.

BEAT Invitational Season 2 Teams

The teams competing are:

Immortals

FNRGFE

Tempo Storm

Luminosity Gaming Evil

Rogue

EnVision eSports

Arc 6

Counter Logic Gaming

The first games of the invitational see Immortals face Counter Logic Gaming, LG Evil take on EnVision eSports, FNRGFE come up against Arc 6, and Rogue battle Tempo Storm. Rogue have replaced Team Liquid, who withdrew due to prior commitments, and FNRGFE and EnVision eSports have come in for Cloud9 and Evil Genuises. Immortals qualified for Season 2 after coming through the Overwatch Contenders Season Zero Open Qualifiers.

Rogue have enjoyed a fine 2017 thus far, taking first place in the Overwatch PIT Championship – North American, Overwatch Rumble – April and Overwatch TaKeOver 2, and the late additions will certainly be one team to keep an eye on.

The Map Pool

A coin flip decides the initial map choice for Season Two, and that map is then removed from the list and cannot be played again. The loser of the previous map selects the one for the upcoming game, and attack/defence positions are decided by the opposition. Any games that end in a tie are to be decided in the King of the Hill map. Teams can choose from the following map pools:

Best-of-Three

Lijang Tower

Dorado

King’s Row

Volskaya Industries

Temple of Anubis

Best-of-Five

Lijiang Tower

Ilios

Dorado

Route 66

Volskaya Industries

Temple of Anubis

King’s Row

Best-of-Seven

Lijiang Tower

Ilios

Dorado

Route 66

Volskaya Industries

Temple of Anubis

Hanamura

King’s Row

Hollywood

Season One

Team EnVyUs took the top prize at the BEAT Invitational Season 1 last June and July with a 4-0 grand final victory over Code7, which followed a 3-0 victory over the same team in the winners’ final. Their team of Timo "Taimou" Kettunen, Dennis "INTERNETHULK" Hawelka, Christian "cocco" Jonsson, Sebastian "chipshajen" Widlund, Ronnie "Talespin" DuPree and Jonathan "HarryHook" Tejedor finished top of Group A on six points ahead of Northern Gaming Red, 1SHOT and Splyce.

They secured grand final wins in the Watchpoint: Gibraltar, Hollywood, Lijiang Tower and King’s Row maps in what became a resounding, one-sided victory just over a month after Overwatch was released. Team EnVyUs won’t be there for Season 2 as they’re competing in the OGN Overwatch Apex in South Korea, but they’ve shown how teams can outlast their competition on the grandest of stages.

The Overwatch World Cup qualifiers are coming up on 14th July but, before then, the BEAT Invitational Season 2 Champions are to be decided, with the winners reportedly taking home $3,300, second place receiving $1,800, and $900 for third.